George V. Banning ’39

George died June 7, 2012, at his home in Greenbrae, Calif., ­surrounded by Jean, his wife of 67 years, and his family, including his daughter, Juliet Allen, and son Peter.

He prepared for Princeton at Deerfield Academy. After graduation he earned a master’s degree in architecture at Harvard, studying under Walter Gropius.

As a lieutenant commander in the Navy during World War II, he saw action in the Aleutians, the Philippines, and the Marshall Islands.

George’s architectural career was spent in California, first in San Francisco, then in Marin County where he had his own firm and, he said, enjoyed “a wide variety of projects, from back porches to $5 million housing rehabs.” He designed the city halls for San Anselmo and San Rafael as well as “various banks, schools, firehouses, and private homes.” He considered his own family home in Belvedere to be among his finest work.

George was a mentor to younger architects and was devoted to his community, for which he served on several boards. In reminiscing about his Princeton years during the Depression, he called it “one of the loveliest places on earth,” concluding, “We were the lucky ones.”

The class in turn expresses its good fortune in having had George as a member.